title: Necrotizing myofasciitis: an atypical cause of "acute abdomen" in an immunocompromised child.
abstract: We report the case of an immunocompromised 15-year-old boy who presented with symptoms mimicking an "acute abdomen" related to necrotizing myofasciitis of the anterior abdominal wall. CT demonstrated the abdominal wall process as the cause of the patient's symptoms and sonographically guided aspiration confirmed the diagnosis. Despite prompt diagnosis and aggressive surgical debridement, the infection continued to progress and the patient died within 24 h of presentation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Section of Pediatric Radiology, Box 3808, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Frush
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Bisset
mesh_terms: D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000382:microbiology; D000293:Adolescent; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019115:Fasciitis, Necrotizing / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000382:microbiology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008297:Male; D009220:Myositis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000382:microbiology; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000276:immunology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed